wth is this strange box sitting on my porch???

[o2dazone]

Damn kids leaving their stuff in front of my home



Well it won't hurt to take a peak



Wait a second...this looks like..



What's this little baggy?



HEY! How nice!!



This entire box can't just be for this single key can it??



Woohoo! I am now good feeling of oneness with cup rubber!!



All the standard stuff, some jibberish about dipswitches that I can't read, and the elitekeyboards warranty



In all it's glory



It's a very petite layout. I'm getting used to it, and will be bringing it to work to get better at the layout throughout the day. I've already familiarized myself caps-->ctrl, and I've turned on DIP 1 and 3 (yeah, I'm one of those freaks who uses windows shortcuts).

The feeling is not like anything else. It kind of has that definite registration when the rubber dome collapses, but it's not mushy like normal rubber domes are. The springs make it seem snappy, like it's giving resistance up until the very moment it goes the opposite direction. Once I let go, I feel it snap back up. It's awesome.

When I first got the package, I was considering the price tag, while looking at the size of the board. It's tiny, no mistake about that. As I type on it more, I'm starting to realize what an amazing purchase I've made. I will have to test drive it more to be full convinced but I'm well on my way. Couple the capacitive switches with the layout, and it's one smoking keyboard. I absolutely LOVE the way they did the arrow keys. The fn key is gently held down and my hands naturally fall into the position of where the arrows would be.

The service from elitekeyboards was just like with the Filco. Placed an order the day they went for sale, and it arrived today (fast!). Brian / Majestouch goes beyond what I expect, and it's been nothing but pleasure doing business. Also the red escape is just a nice touch of the extra mileage he's going. Thanks Brian!!

More later

[vils]

Congrats!

[bigpook]

cool, welcome to the club : )

[rdjack21]

Now I just need to get mine The only problem is that the wallet is not filling up fast enough for all the things I want to purchase Oh well I guess I will have to be happy with the 87U for now

I'm really glad you like it. And yes the Topre switches have a very distinct feel to them. For me at least I think I have found the switch I like best in the Topre. But other switches have things I like as well it is just that if I had to pick one board and only one board it would be a Topre board with out a second thought.

[Viett]

Loved the presentation. Let us know what you think after some regular use.

[o2dazone]

Yeah, I really like the switch itself. It's definitely not as "lose" as brown or blue cherries, none of the keys wobble in their switch.

A couple more photos

[chimera15]

Really sweet.  Wish I could get black alps key covers for one of my siigs so it'd look cool like that. lol

[wellington1869]

LOL - the thumbs up was great!

I gotta just sit down and do some serious AutoHotkey scripting to see if I can simulate the arrow keys and see if I like it.

That board looks sweet!

dude AHK will do *everything* you want. I have an elaborate ahk script that I cant live without. And yup it includes arrow keys at my "JKL;" home row position. I rarely leave home row position for *anything* while I type, thanks to AHK.  Works like a charm and best of all your shortcuts are completely customizable of course. And transferable from keyboard to keyboard since AHK doesnt care which keyboard you plug in, your shortcuts are the same.

p.s., funny review, o2.

[molto]

Enjoy your good feeling of oneness with cup rubber!

[itlnstln]

What's this little baggy?

I thought it was going to be a dime of KB, or something.

[o2dazone]

I thought it was going to be a dime of KB, or something.

I'd be fine with that...I mean, Elitekeyboards IS based out of California lol

Official Day 1: I took it to work with me, to get more familiar with the layout. So far so good, and I'm sure my colleagues appreciate the quietness over the blue cherries. A few things I'm noticing is that I would use my fingers to "find" the home row based on adjacent keys, more-so the bottom row. Now that the bottom row is much different from other keyboards I've used, I find myself feeling for nubs to get my fingers where they need to be

[o2dazone]

hahahahahah
I'd have to say you just +1'd my OP

[wellington1869]

It's easy to copy.

Did you use a tripod??  You gotta post your "secrets of the O2 Keyboard pictures" tutorial sometime.

I got this new Nikon 35mm 1.8 AFS and boy the depth of field is shallow.

whats next? claymation?

[itlnstln]

Now, now... Just because Intlstln exceeded your post count. Photo people love their geeky doodads too.
 
Actually, thinking about that, maybe that's not something to be praised. Hmm.... No wonder iMav didn't award anything when you hit 2,000.:typing:

Dude, you're at 1341 and have only been here for about 2 months or so. You will be the post king in no time flat. I think the current ranking is XsPhat (by a comfortable margin), me, Welly and iMav. At your current pace, you will probably only need about 2-3 more months to catch up.

[o2dazone]

Did you use a tripod??  You gotta post your "secrets of the O2 Keyboard pictures" tutorial sometime.

I can do that if I have time tonight, not like I'm in the industry so I'm ok with sharing trade secrets like that lol!

[majestouch]

At the risk of offending children, numerous religious denominations, and little old ladies (bless their hearts), I'll stop at "wow."


P.S. Glad you like the board o2!

[wellington1869]

Now, now...  Just because Intlstln exceeded your post count.  Photo people love their geeky doodads too. :grouphug:

Itln I think is now officially in second place overall on the site (behind XS, whose post count is pretty much out of everyone's reach, lol)

 iMav didn't award anything when you hit 2,000.:typing:

I was waiting patiently for my geekhack coffee mug to come in the mail but no luck

[itlnstln]

I was waiting patiently for my geekhack coffee mug to come in the mail but no luck

I think Xs has the gold watch.
 
I got the kick in the a*s.

[o2dazone]

[wheel83]

I love my Microsoft Trackball Optical!  Like the Model M, I owe it all to this site haha

[watduzhkstand4]

some good stuff! quick question though, did you just ask them for the red esc key? How much was it, because I'm interested in getting one if I'm gonna get the Filco w/ some blue cherries lol.

[o2dazone]

He sent it to me without asking. Shortly after Elitekeyboards.com opened they started including all their boards with red esc keys. I ordered my keyboard before they started doing that, so I didn't get one. He made up for it though a very nice touch

I'm not sure if all his boards come with it because I'm just a customer, but it was nice all the same.

[watduzhkstand4]

wow they're really providing some nice service.

[patrickgeekhack]

o2 since you've used both the HHKB and the G80-3000, how was it switching from the latter to the former? I've not used one (yet?), but I would imagine the HHKP to have a softer landing since it uses rubber dome with springs.

[o2dazone]

I won't bother trying to say what switch I like more, or what I feel is better, I think that varies from one person to another.

Make no mistake about it, the Cherry MX technology and the capacitive switch technology are on entirely different spectrums. The feeling is what you would expect, a snappy rubber dome backed by a spring, which can be disheartening to people, because it's not a dramatic shift like rubber dome to buckling spring - or scissor switch to Alps. What really shines about capacitive 'cup rubber' is you have all the travel and tactile force from a Cherry MX swtich, coupled with a satisfied thock of finality.

Because the G80-3000's nature, a point of sales board, and a good cheap source of blue cherries, the construction of the HHKB is going to be naturally better. There's a lot of breathing room in the g80, and it felt kind of flimsy on some parts (for example if you depressed a key and pushed hard, you would notice the pcb flex and all the other keys would move). This isn't necessarily a problem, just something I noticed in it's construction.

Also the force chart of the HHKB shines a little more light on how it would feel compared to blue switches.

Capacitive


Blue Cherry MX


Summary: Having tried capacitive switches has redefined my tastes for tactility and travel.

[patrickgeekhack]

That's a good verbal summary.  And look at the long tail on that force chart.  The Topre eases you to the bottom.

Patrick - I remember you like soft landings.  I'm starting to worry about your kids college savings fund.

It's the soft landing that I don't like. So, her college fund is safe :-) Anyway, there's always OSAP (education loan).

[patrickgeekhack]

Because the G80-3000's nature, a point of sales board, and a good cheap source of blue cherries, the construction of the HHKB is going to be naturally better. There's a lot of breathing room in the g80, and it felt kind of flimsy on some parts (for example if you depressed a key and pushed hard, you would notice the pcb flex and all the other keys would move). This isn't necessarily a problem, just something I noticed in it's construction.

I noticed that at the beginning, and to be honest, was a little bit dissapointed. But after a while, I learned to use less force on the board, and was okay with it and it even became my favourite board.